Head of The Junior School and Willow Lodge (Infant School)

The King’s School is an academically selective, co-educational independent school originally founded in 1541 for the ‘poor and friendless’ children of Chester. Almost 500 years later, King’s is a thriving, dynamic and forward-thinking school of more than 1100 pupils that is considered to be one of the leading day schools in the country.

At King’s we aim to make the very most of every individual student in the school, both academically as a selective school with a great tradition of scholarship, but also in terms of their personal development with regard to confidence, resilience, flexibility and well-being.

This is achieved by a broad and engaging curriculum, an extensive co-curricular programme, excellent pastoral care and exceptionally committed and professional staff. We strive for unpretentious excellence in all that we do and want our pupils to remember their time at school with a smile on their face, whilst successfully going on to make their marks on the world in their own distinct ways.

Our Values

In striving to achieve their own very best whilst caring about and working effectively with each other, all members of the King’s community strive to:

Aspire

We want all our students to aspire to be the very best versions of themselves. This relates to both their academic achievement, where we want them to attain their ‘sustainable best’, and just as importantly to their personal development as unique individuals.

Respect

We want our students to have respect for themselves and all others in the school community. We believe that young people should be comfortable in their own skin, whilst being respectful of others, especially with regard to diversity.

Collaborate

We want our students to collaborate effectively so that they learn to be great team members and achieve more than they would on their own. We also want them to contribute positively as part of the broader community with a higher sense of service.

The King’s School enjoys a spacious and exceptionally well-resourced site on the outskirts of Chester, having moved there from a city centre location next to the cathedral in 1960.

The site contains all sections of the school catering for pupils aged 4 to 18. Our state-of-the-art infant school, Willow Lodge (ages 3-7), was built eight years ago and the adjacent Junior School (ages 7-11) has been renovated and extended over recent years to provide specialist teaching and outstanding outdoor facilities.

The Senior School (ages 11-18) is also benefitting from an ambitious current masterplan, with the recent addition of a new £4.5 million Sports Centre, The Rohan Ingley Pastoral Centre, a comprehensive classroom renovation programme and most recently the redevelopment and expansion of the Sixth Form Centre. The school enjoys extensive sports and playing fields to the rear of the main building.

There are currently 789 pupils in the Senior School (224 in the Sixth Form), 244 pupils in the Junior School and 119 in the Infants, supported by almost 250 staff (teaching and support).

King’s is regularly named as the top performing school in Cheshire with regard to our public examination results and has been the top performing co-educational school in the north-west at A level for the last three years. Last year 93% of A level grades were at A*-B with a three year average of 90% A*-B.

The extensive co-curricular programme offers over 100 clubs and activities on a weekly basis. The major sports are football, hockey, cricket and rowing for boys and netball, hockey and rowing for girls. Drama, music and the CCF are also particularly strong. The school has its own boathouse on the River Dee in Chester and has a proud and long-standing record as one of the country’s foremost rowing schools.

King’s also puts a great deal of emphasis on its pastoral provision in line with its core strategic aim of ‘every child being known, valued and cared for’. This was recently boosted by the reversion to a house system in the Senior School which ensures continuity of support for pupils throughout their adolescent years in small tutor groups of 12-14 pupils.

The school returns to the cathedral for a service at the end of every term and very much sees itself as an integral part of the Chester and broader community. The school is a member of Chester Schools Together which is a partnership project with four local state schools. It is hoped and anticipated that this partnership, as well as many other links with Chester institutions, will flourish in the years ahead.

Chester itself is a delightful and historic city in a beautiful part of the country that is very well-positioned in terms of access to Liverpool, Manchester and North Wales, with London only two hours away by train. Barely a mile from the Welsh border, just over a third of pupils and many staff commute daily from Wales. There is an impressive range of highly attractive places to live within daily reach of the King’s School, with excellent local schools and a great diversity of employment opportunities for partners.

Further information about the school can be found on our website: www.kingschester.co.uk